Chapter Three
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In The Air Tonight

           Olivia paced back in forth in Dustin's room as Max recounted to them what she had seen the night before. Her deepest fears were confirmed. She had a hard time accepting that Chrissy, one of her best friends was the Hawkins High student that had been murdered just the night before. Dustin and Max were trying to comfort her, but she couldn't grasp the reality that Chrissy was really gone.

"And you're sure it was Chrissy?" Olivia asked again, even though she already knew the answer.

Max and Dustin gave Olivia a sympathetic look, not imagining what she was feeling at the moment. "Yes Liv," Max sighed. "She was in her cheerleader outfit. It was the same thing I saw her in with Eddie."

"Did you tell all this to the cops?" Dustin questioned, worried about Eddie.

"No. No, but I can't be the only one who saw them together. I mean, they stood out," Max exhaled.

"Eddie the freak with Chrissy the cheerleader?" Dustin said in disbelief, having a hard time believing Max's words.

"Chrissy told me last night she was going to Eddie's," Olivia spoke up, her voice lacing with sadness as she remembered what Chrissy told her. She should've have trusted her instincts and went with Chrissy to make sure that she was safe, she should've listened to herself or none of this would have happened. "I thought it was unusual, Chrissy had never spoken of Eddie before."

"Exactly," Max nodded. "His name's not in the news or anything, but I guarantee you Eddie is suspect number one right now."

Panic flashed across Dustin's eyes. "That's crazy," He exclaimed, defending his friend. "Eddie didn't do this. No way. No way."

"I agree with Dustin on this," Olivia sided. "I don't know him well like Dustin does, but I know Eddie well enough to know he would never do something like this."

"Well, we can't rule it out," Max argued.

"Yes we can!" Dustin spat back.

"Dustin!"

"You don't know him like I do, Max, okay? When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends. Mike and me? I mean, no one was nice to us. No one except Eddie. Well, and you Liv," Dustin sighed.

Olivia's heart broke at Dustin's small speech. Dustin was the most important in her life, and to hear that he was struggling with making friends broke her heart. She was forever grateful for Eddie for always looking out for her little brother and being a good role model to him, and for that she knew Eddie was innocent.

"Okay, well, I mean, they said the same shit about Ted Bundy. Yeah, he's like a super nice guy but then he's murdering women on the weekend," Max pointed out.

Olivia widened her eyes at the young girl's argument. "Max!" She scolded. "You can't compare him to Ted Bundy! Eddie is not like him!" Olivia knew Eddie would never do something like that. Sure, the town may have seen him as a freak, but in reality, he was probably one of the kindest people that Olivia knew. She couldn't imagine what Eddie must have been feeling, what he was going through. Whatever it was that he had seen, he was traumatized and scared.

"No, I'm not saying-" Max paused, regretting what she had said and chose her next words carefully. "I'm saying we can't presume anything, okay? But it doesn't look good for Eddie."

Dustin let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the edge of his bed. Olivia sat down next to him and gave him a side hug. "Why haven't you told the cops this?" Dustin quizzed.

"I... I don't know," Max shrugged, looking deflated.

"You don't know?" Dustin repeated.

Max heaved a sigh before taking a seat next to the siblings. "After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go in the trailer, something else happened. Nothing that weird or anything, I mean, Eddie always drives like a maniac and the power goes off at my place all the time. It's a piece of shit. But... this morning, I started to think back and I don't know. The look on his face, he was scared. Really scared. Maybe he was scared, you know, because he just killed someone or... maybe—"

"Something else killed her?" Dustin finished.

"But that's impossible, right?" Max furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't know, it should be," Dustin faltered.

"There's only one person who knows what actually happened," Olivia added, her voice shaken at the thought of their lives being in danger again. Just when their lives seemed like it was normal again, something else was happening. Hawkins was not a safe town anymore.

"Eddie."

The three of them rushed out of Dustin's room, deciding to go to the Family Video store to ask Steve and Robin for help on finding Eddie. According to Max she couldn't find any of their friends which frustrated Olivia. It always seemed to be in the time their lives were in danger and needed their friends no one ever available.

"Livy, Dusty, where are you going?" Claudia asked with worry.

"To see Steve!" Olivia answered in a rush, wanting to get out the door before their mom could stop them.

"You heard the news, it's not safe!" Claudia exclaimed.

"Good point, we'll be extra careful. Thanks mom, I love you. Bye!" Olivia said hurriedly, blowing a kiss to her mom before leaving.

𓆩♡𓆪

The three of them barged into Family Video where Steve and Robin were behind the counter watching the news. "Liv, where have you been? You're late for your shift," Robin pointed out.

"Sorry," Olivia apologized. "My mom has put me and Dustin on house arrest with everything going on—"

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin interrupted her.

Steve scoffed at Dustin and pointed to the TV. "Someone was murdered."

Olivia shifted her eyes to the ground, and Max put a comforting hand over hers. "Yeah, um..." A tear rolled down Olivia's cheeks, and Steve looked at her with her. "I-it was Chrissy..." She sniffed.

"Liv, are you okay?" Steve asked worriedly. "I know how close you guys were."

"I will be," Olivia nodded. "I just need time. I loved Chrissy like a sister."

"I'm so sorry Liv, but I really need to know how many phones you guys have." Dustin repeated louder.

"Two, why?" Steve furrowed his eyes at the boy.

"Technically three if you count Keith's in the back," Robin added.

"Yeah, three works," Max nodded at Dustin.

Dustin slides his backpack over the counter, knocking tapes to the ground. "Dustin!" Olivia scolded. Olivia rolled her eyes at him before pulling her vest over her cheerleading outfit. She was so overwhelmed with everything that she hadn't thought to change out of it before leaving.

"What are you doing, man?" Steve complained to Dustin, waving his arms in the air in frustration.

Dustin sat in front of the computer, typing quickly. "Setting up base of operation here."

"Base of operations?" Robin repeated.

"Get off of that," Steve huffed.

"No, I need it," Dustin countered.

"Need it for what?"

"Looking up Eddie's friends phone number's," Dustin answered.

"Oh, Eddie. You're new best friend Eddie you think is cooler than me because he plays you're game?" Steve scoffed bitterly.

If they weren't in the situation they were in, Olivia normally would've giggled at Steve's comment. Steve would never admit it out loud, but it was obvious how much he cared for Dustin.

"Yes!" Dustin rolled his eyes and looked up at Steve. "I never said that."

"Seriously, maybe you guys on a Monday can play around like toddlers, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day," Robin informed as she picked up the tapes that were on the ground.

Olivia looked around the store only to see that that the store was empty. "The store is empty, Rob. I think we'll be okay," Olivia pointed out to her stressed friend.

"Alright, look Robin, I totally empathize, but this cannot wait until Monday," Dustin reasoned, putting his focus towards the computer screen.

"What? Calling all of Eddie's friends is an emergency?" Robin said frustratedly.

"Correct!" Dustin and Olivia chorused.

"Want me to strangle him, or do you want to?" Steve asked Robin, which caused a glare from Olivia.

"We can take turns," Robin answered sarcastically.

Dustin looked up at Olivia. "Can you just fill them in while I do this?" He pleaded to his sister.

Robin stopped what she was doing and turned around to face the the three of them. Steve was standing next to her, looking just as confused. Robin narrowed her eyes at Dustin. "Fill us in on what?" She quizzed curiously.

Olivia and Max exchanged glances, and Max gave her a knowing look. Olivia let out a sigh before taking a seat on the ground and pulled her legs close to her chest. Steve sat down next to her, his worries only increasing for her. She let out breath and closed her eyes before she explained to the two everything that had happened.